Jailbreak
by AimzNemesis
Summary: A novelisation of the beginning of the TR3 level High Security Compound, just after Lara is arrested. Note: This is NOT one of my best fanfics. You have been warned. But, eh, read it if you so wish. One-shot.


DISCLAIMER AND AUTHOR'S NOTES: I do not own any of the characters, locations or events depicted. All are property of Eidos Interactive and Core Design. The names of the prisoners and MPs are, however, completely made up by me. I am not attempting to infringe, so don't sue me.   
WARNING: This contains spoilers for Tomb Raider 3 if you haven't played it yet.  
I will accept good reviews and constructive criticism, but I will not accept flames. They don't help me at all, frankly.  
  
  
  
****  
  
  
  
Lara opened her eyes slowly. All she could see was a large, brown blur. Blinking several times, Lara's eyes eventually focused properly. She was staring at a brown ceiling with a double bar light in the middle. She blinked again, trying to gather where she was, and also realised that she had one hell of a headache. It was then that Lara realised she was lying on a bed. A low, uncomfortable bed at that. Her eyes drifted to a small square window on the wall opposite. Just one look at this window told Lara that she was in some kind of prison cell. The window was barred, with strong black metal barring any chances of escape. Glancing to her right, Lara noticed the dirty sink and toilet in the corner, and the disgusting amount of mould surrounding it.  
~Wha....~ She thought, slightly confused. ~What the hell happened?~  
Sitting up, Lara blinked again and tried to recall the last thing that had happened. It came flooding to her in an instant....  
  
[Flashback]   
Lara drove the brown quad bike past the warehouse and parked it right in front of the enormous metal gates. Dismounting, she crossed over to the switch on the left. Now, there was no danger of her being electrified, as she had previously turned the electricity that flowed through the fence off.   
~Okay,~ She thought, ~here we go....~  
Lara reached out and pulled the switch. The massive black-grey gates swung open with a slight creak. Turning back to the quad bike, Lara ran up to it and got back on. She turned the key and the engine hummed to life once more. Narrowing her eyes, Lara smiled.  
~Now I can finally enter that compound.~ She thought. ~Let's get ready to rumble.~  
Slamming her foot down on the pedal, Lara roared through the gates and immediately took a sharp left turn to avoid smashing into the red-orange rocks ahead. Speeding through the open, Lara took another left turn, crashing down the slope and only just missed crashing into the wall again. She sped left again, heading fast towards the large rock that sloped upwards. If she sped up this rock, she'd go flying over the metal fence and finally have access to the secret underground compound. And maybe, just maybe.... she'd be able to find Area 51. Many people were in doubt if such a place even existed, but Lara had a strong feeling that, if they had a secret high security compound hidden underground, then they'd sure as hell have something to do with Area 51....  
Speeding on, the wheels of the quad hit the sloped rock and Lara roared up the slope. She reached the tip of it and, as the wheels left the edge, she felt herself sailing over the metal fence and barbed wire.   
Lara knew that, as soon as she landed, she'd have to make a very quick turn to avoid ploughing into the rocks, so she'd have to think quick. Her mind raced.  
~Right, so if I make a sharp right turn, then I should....~  
Her thoughts were suddenly cut short as the back wheels of the quad caught onto the barbed wire just below. The tyres were slashed open almost immediately, the air escaping with a loud BANG.   
Lara felt her stomach rise up to her throat as the force of the impact caused the quad to flip her clean out of her seat. Lara gasped in shock and horror as she flipped a couple of times in mid air, the sound of the wind rushing in her ears as she fell, the quad bike dangerously close behind her. Lara let out a shriek as the sandy ground came up to meet her at an alarming rate.   
Lara screwed her eyes shut as she hit the floor roughly. Pain shot through her skull, blinding her momentarily. She rolled over several times before finally stopping. She heard a loud crash as the quad smashed into the rocks and then back down to the floor, just inches away from her head.   
Lara groaned in shock and pain. She weakly struggled to get up, but her limbs just wouldn't obey her mind, so she stayed sprawled pathetically on the floor. The sound of footsteps approaching made her panic a little. She heard a man's voice gasp "What the hell....?!" and she just knew that these guys must be a couple of MPs who worked in the compound.  
~Shit....~   
Then everything went black.  
[End flashback]  
  
Now, Lara had got her wish alright.... she was in the compound. Only not quite as she had expected. Rubbing her aching head, Lara flung her legs over the side of the grubby bed and shakily got to her feet.   
~Right, how am I going to get out of this one?~  
Looking back at the window, Lara saw that there were three green lasers blocking the actual bars.  
~Funny,~ Lara thought. ~why have they got those there?~   
Before she could ponder any more, he heard voices outside her cell. Lara quickly ducked down and crawled towards the door. She pressed her ear against the door and listened.  
"Are you completely sure about this, Dave? I mean, none of the other prisoners have lasered windows."  
"Look, Pete, I told ya before, we only jus' brought 'er in. The crazy bitch came roarin' over our security fence on a quad, for God's sakes. Plus, she was carryin' quite a lot of dangerous weapons an' she killed a lot of our workers. We can't take no risks. After a few days, if she don't cause no trouble, we'll get rid of the lasers."  
"It's not like she's able to escape anyway. We have the highest security in the country here." Pete said, a hint of cockiness entering his voice.  
"Tha' may be so, but we still can't take no chances." Dave replied. Pete went a little silent after that. Dave continued. "Anyways, you stay 'ere an' guard 'er. I'll be goin' back to my patrol. If anythin' happens, contact me, 'kay?"  
Lara smiled to herself and ecided that there was no point in listening to the conversation anymore. She walked back to the bed and sat down, planning her next move. She glanced at the lasers and smiled to herself. The lasers obviously weren't harmful, but they probably activated some type of signal to let the MPs know that she was trying to escape.  
Lara stretched and rose from the hard bed, approaching the window. She stopped, her face just inches from the lasers. Glancing over her shoulder at the door, she saw through the tiny barred window that Pete was standing quite still, obviously on guard.  
Good. She thought. ~This must mean that Dave guy has left. Just what I need....~  
Pausing for just another second, Lara put her hands on the windowsill and lifted herself up, allowing the green lasers to pass through her body. It was an odd sensation, but she had to ignore it, for she had to get ready for action.   
Sure enough, just a couple of seconds after lifting herself into the windowsill, she heard the door behind her swing open, and the sound of running footsteps. She turned around to see Pete heading towards her, a rather nasty looking truncheon at his side.   
"Freeze!" Pete shouted. Lara smiled to herself and, with lightning speed, flipped forwards off the windowsill, landing behind the bewildered MP.   
"Wha...." He began, spinning around. Lara quickly delivered a roundhouse kick to his stomach. Groaning, Pete fell to the floor, clutching at his stomach. Lara saw her chance and ran from her cell.  
As soon as she stepped outside, Lara briefly glanced around at her new surroundings. She was standing on a metal walkway in a large room. Just opposite from her was another walkway, with four other cells over the other side. To her left were three more cells. There were no cells on the ground below, but a large black metal gate to the right, leading out to a corridor. On the walls, all around her, were the words "Bay C".   
Quickly turning left, Lara jogged up to the next cell across and looked at the door. To the left of the door was a grey metal switch.  
~What a terribly simple lock.~ Lara thought, casually pushing the switch. The grey door swiftly swung open, revealing a cell exactly like hers, only it was occupied by a young man with dark skin, clad in blue-grey trousers with a matching zip-up sleeveless jacket, which showed off his tattooed arms and his muscles. He wore a small grey cap on his head.  
Almost as soon as the door opened, the man leapt out of the door and roughly pushed past Lara, causing her to stumble a little.  
"Oof!" Lara grunted. She stared after the prisoner crossly. ~How rude.~   
Her thoughts were cut off suddenly as Pete emerged from her old cell, his face contorted with fury. His eyes flashed as his gaze landed on her.  
"Come here you little bi -" He began to snarl. He was abruptly cut off as the prisoner that Lara had released punched him in the face.  
Pete grunted in surprise before the prisoner punched him again, harder this time. But Pete wasn't one to give up easily. He raised his truncheon above his head and proceeded to strike the other man across the face. The prisoner simply grunted and, with lightning speed, grabbed hold of the truncheon and wrenched it from Pete's grasp.   
"The hell -" Pete gasped, in shock. He was even more shocked when the prisoner managed to flip the MP onto his stomach. Pete's lower jaw smashed against the hard metal floor. Blood began to seep from his gums.   
"Get... off.... me...." Pete growled through clenched teeth, struggling to rise to his feet, which was impossible because the escaped prisoner was sitting on top of him.  
The prisoner laughed nastily and spoke in a deep American accent. "I ain't gonna let you off that easily."   
Before Pete could utter another word, the man brought the truncheon down on the base of his skull. There was a grotesque cracking sound and Pete's head slumped to the floor, a small river of blood running from between his lips. Silence followed as the prisoner got to his feet, still gripping the truncheon.  
Lara, who had been watching with a small amount of interest, slowly began to approach the prisoner. The prisoner averted his gaze from Pete's corpse to her. His features remained unaltered as he spoke.  
"Thanks for letting me out, lady."  
Lara allowed herself a small half-smile. "You're welcome." Her gaze fell on the MP's corpse. "Nice job, by the way."  
"He deserved it." Muttered the prisoner, glaring at the body with a look of extreme distaste. He glanced back to Lara. "You're new here, ain't ya? What's ya name?"  
"Lara Croft. And yes, I am 'new' here. May I ask what your name is?"  
"Roger. Roger Austin." The man answered. "So, you're the famous Lara Croft. I thought I recognised ya from somewhere." He looked puzzled. "So, what're ya in here for? Killed one of the MPs, did ya?"  
"No." Lara answered. "I did happen to dispatch of several of their workers, however. But I wasn't arrested for that. I managed to infiltrate the compound, but I had a little accident. I crashed my quad and blacked out. When I came to, I was locked in that cell." She looked at him questioningly. "What exactly are you in here for?"  
Roger smirked. "I used to be a worker here. That is, until I broke a few tiny little rules."  
Lara raised an eyebrow. "Such as....?"  
"Killed a couple of fellow workers, gave an MP brain damage with a large rock, that kinda thing." Roger answered, as if deliberately hurling a large rock at someone was the most natural thing in the world.  
"I get the picture." Lara muttered, realising just how violent this prisoner was.   
Roger failed to notice the look she gave him. "So, are ya gonna do your traditional adventuring act? Ya know, escape?"  
Lara chuckled. "Of course I am. I don't give up easily." She turned and began to walk away.  
"Hey, wait a minute!" Roger shouted after her. "Ain't ya gonna let the others out?"   
Lara turned around. "Of course. I will need some help in getting past those guards, after all."  
Roger chuckled. "Charming."  
Lara continued to walk until she reached the next cell. As she pressed the button to unlock the heavy door, she knew that she was going to have to pull off some fancy moves if she was going to escape from this place.... and especially if she was going to make it to her destination - the elusive Area 51.  
  
  
**** 


End file.
